Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have called for an investigation of alleged misuse of federal dollars by universities conducting medical research.

In a September 20 letter, Rep Joe Barton (R, Tex) and Rep Ed Whitfield (R, Ky) asked the HHS’s inspector general to examine claims of widespread disparities between the numbers of research activities grantees projected and the numbers of activities actually performed using grant money from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). They also requested an audit of some of the largest NIH clinical research center grants to see if the number of research projects funded equaled the number of projects performed. In addition, Barton and Whitfield said the inspector general may want to look for other potential discrepancies, such as false statements and improper accounting.